Shopaholic Abroad
The second hit novel in the Shopaholic book series written by Sophie Kinsella. Shopaholic Abroad (also titled Shopaholic Takes Manhattan) sees Becky being offered a job to work in New York, however, when Becky learns of all the fantastic hidden sales can anything go wrong? Plot Becky's life is finally on track, she has a great relationship with gorgeous boyfriend, Luke Brandon, a fantastic job offering financial advice on a popular daytime TV show and furthermore, she's on very good terms with her bank manager Derek Smeath. However, this is Becky's life and things soon take a very bad turn for the worst when her bank manager informs her he is retiring and Luke announces that he wishes to make it big in New York. Big changes are ahead for Becky when she agrees to move to New York and when she does it's like they were made for each other! Taking a unique trip to the Guggenheim, whilst also being offered a job as a personal shopper at the New York fashion store Barneys, she also discovers the joy of hidden sample sales. She spend's quite a lot, however she's not panicking because the TV job offers are flying in! What could possibly go wrong? Life starts to crumble when the Daily World publishes an article revealing Becky's high debts calling her a fraud for telling people how to manage their own money. Becky finds herself in a very awkward situation when she finds out Luke's company Brandon Communications is at risk of loosing their top client, the Bank of London. Which also results in her having an argument with Luke as it does not look good for his business and the fact that he didn't know she was in this mess. As more and more people read the article, suddenly, all the fantastic companies that wanted Becky for their TV shows start pulling out of their job offers and meetings to her, as well as that, she looses her job on the TV morning show in the UK, with them giving her job to Becky's old colleague, Clare Edwards. With no other options, Becky returns home to flatmate Suze, fearing her relationship with Luke has come to a sudden end. Becky and Suze believe that if they were to ask Becky's new bank manager for a bigger overdraft, Becky could soon clear the debts, so they go ahead to meet the new bank manager, however they are met with hostility. However, Becky becomes hopeful when a woman who worked for the TV show she was working on calls her up and asks her to meet her for lunch. At the lunch Becky gets told that they only want her for a feature, to be told off by Clare Edwards and to reveal her side of the 'story'. Becky decides to go to Luke's London offices to collect a package for her which has been delivered there, however when she gets there she finds herself hiding under one of the office tables listening to a conversation between Alicia and her fiance, Ben Bridges and another Brandon Communications worker. A bit confused by what she's overheard, Becky soon comes to the realisation that Alicia, along with her colleagues are planning to steal Luke's clients, along with the Bank of London and run the company out of business to embarrass Luke. Instead of going back home, Becky decides to investigate further. Leaving Brandon Communications when the coast was clear, Becky makes her way to King Street, where she asks a tenant at the building which Becky overheard mentioned what the new offices were intended for. He tells her that a brand new financial company "Bridges and Billington" is about to move in with their new massive client, the Bank of London. She immediately want's to inform Luke, however she thinks that he wouldn't want to hear from her, she knows though that she has to warn him somehow. So instead of phoning Luke she phones his friend Michael Ellis, who thanks her for informing him. However, she requests that he does not tell Luke it was her who gave him the information. Later on in the week, Becky receives a call from Michael who has come to London and would like to take her out for lunch to thank her for the information in which she gave him. Upon arrival, Michael congratulates Becky as her information saved Brandon Communications. He reveals to Becky that Luke has returned to London to salvage his relationship with his clients, whilst also keeping interest open in America. He also tells Becky that as soon as Luke heard about what Alicia was up to he turned home and searched through all their desks and found plenty of evidence. Furious by his findings, he immediately invited Alicia and all of the colleagues who were involved into a meeting where he fired the lot of them. Michael then proceeds to mention that Luke intends to press charges against Alicia, Ben and the four others involved. As the conversation moves on, Michael, who knows that Becky is in debt and has no job proceeds to offer her a job working for him in Washington D.C. On the same night, Becky holds an auction selling off all her clothes, she even sells the Denny and George scarf which she'd always seen as a symbol of her's and Luke's relationship. Becky accepts the invitation to appear on the TV morning show, however the old colleagues are shocked when she announces on national TV that she is now debt free and is heading to New York to work at Barney's. Her former colleagues then try to persuade her to stay, however, Becky stays strong and heads for the airport. Whilst waiting for her flight, Becky picks up a copy of the Financial Times, noticing an article detailing Luke's risky business plans to save his company. Of course she feels bad for him, however, knowing things are over, she decides it's time to get on with her own life. Luke arrives at the airport to try and win Becky back. He informs her that the article about her debts would never have been published if it wasn't for Alicia. He feels guilty as it was his company they were trying to ruin and Becky got caught in the crossfire. He pleads her to stay, whilst also giving her the Denny and George scarf back in which he had several people at Becky's auction, auction for. Becky leaves for New York, alone. She's doing great in her new job at Barney's she's a personal shopping assistant, she enjoys styling the customers and also has a very nice tiny apartment. When helping a customer, Luke walks in and asks for Becky's advice, the two pretend not to know each other for a while but then realise that their love for each other is too strong. They realised they've really missed each other and end up getting back together.